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Well, I started cutting up mild steel square pipe for the corners and filed them down. I then marked and drilled holes where the knock-down fittings were going to go. I then sandblasted them, and I added a block of wood to the inside so the frame can be attached. I then went on to make the sides. I was choosing between Walnut or Cherry MDF and eventually decided to make the chessboard out of walnut. I used a Jig for drilling holes in the sides to make knock-down fittings. I varnished the sides and put it together to see how it looks.

I started to make the front draw by laminating 2 pieces of flexiply, and once dry I stuck on a walnut block for the top of the draw. I then sanded down the walnut block until it was flush with the flexy ply, and I then went on and stuck some walnut veneer to the front and added walnut sidings to the front. I then made the rest of the draw by using a dovetail jig and I cut out the base on a table saw. I stuck the draw together and I then added a dark red felt to the inside (I had an option of dark green, light red or dark red). And I added a drawer knob to the front that matched the mild steel corners.

I then went on to make the frame so I used a guillotine that cut at 45 degrees and I then stuck the mitered walnut slabs together with PVA and a makeshift jig to make sure it was square. I then used a bandsaw and a curve template to curve the front and back piece of the frame. I ran the frame under a drum sander and then block sanded until the frame was very smooth. I added dowels to the sides for extra strength.

I then moved onto the base. I used Walnut MDF and I cut the front and back on the bandsaw using the curve template so it matched the frame. I then edge banded the sides and I drilled holes in the bottom so it can attach itself to the rest of the chessboard, and then used 2 coats of varnish.

I attached the base to the sides and attached the frame to the top and I used dowels to secure the frame in place. and I routed the inside so the chessboard has something to lie on.

I moved onto making the actual chessboard out of walnut and oak and I sanded down each slab until all of them were the same thickness. I then stuck the slabs together in a walnut, oak, walnut configuration as if I was making a cutting board, and I then cut the board sideways and interlocked the pieces so it had a chessboard pattern. I stuck these pieces onto a thin piece of plywood, and I block sanded the top until it was smooth.

I then stuck pieces of plywood onto the inside so the drawer would fit without wobbling around.

I put a boarder around the inside of the drawer to hide my mistakes (parts of the felt were cut a little too short). I stuck felt onto the base, which hid the screws.

I chiseled the corners of the lip on the frame and I cut out a baseplate for the gap.

I moved onto making the inlays. I did this by ripping strips of walnut and oak on a table saw and stuck them together. I used a mitre guillotine so all of the inlays fit around the board. I then sanded down the sides of the inlays so the top had a nicer profile.

I glued the chess board and inlays onto the baseplate, and I gave the whole board a last sanding before waxing the top for a finish.

Hope this helps :)Finlay

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